Alex's review: Intermediate freeride skier

"I like that great surfy feeling of skiing in powder snow like most people do. On extreme days a pure rocker ski is nice but usually I prefer the combination with camber. That challenges me more and supplies versatility."

Rigid lightweight tour ski

The Whitedot R.108 Carbonlite CL:3 is lightweighted (1740 gram at 186 cm) and produced with a tail that keeps your skin in place. I didn't test the walk-up qualities, but will tell you about the many testruns I did in snowconditions from fresh bottomless powder till hard packed groomers. The lightweightness of the R.108 CL helps in powder to come up and turn. I like that aspect as the tail of the ski rather keeps track as if it is carving on piste. Floatation wise there is only a plus, a ski this size plus a good rocker tip will not dive and dip unless you want it too. When the fresh snow is less than bottomless, the ski tends to use that till for grip. This means that if you don't want that, you'll need to lean forward a bit or release the turn and come up. Nothing wrong with this, I just prefer the easier way that a full rocker ski provides. In tracked snow or harder packed side country, the R.108 CL does a good job by holding the line and supportive damping. This is where I find the performance of this tour/freeride ski best.

Harder pack, piste, groomer performance

As the Whitedot R.108 CarbonLite is more rigid than full rocker freeride skis like the Whitedot Director ski for example, it is less nervous on groomed pistes. Still with such a large radius (28 meter), you can imagine it is not playful and short turns are very hard to make. For letting it run down the last part to a lift is fine, but no extra's here. The extra's of the R.108 CL are in the weight for the touring trips and in powder or tracked but soft snow in sidecountry. Especially in tracked snow conditions I like the performance, it is where the rigidness and 2mm camber of the R.108 CL pays off. Work with it aggressively and the Whitedot skis keep you in control to master the run at good speed. For me the R.108 CarbonLite is a 3 star ski, mainly because the biggest plus is the weight and to me that is not so important. I have tested the Whitedot R.98 CarbonLite ski as well and I like the versatility of that one better while I had no limits in powder snow with both.

Whitedot about the R.108 CarbonLite ski

"The R.108 is Whitedot’s most versatile all-access ski. The Carbonlite version offers incredible weight-saving along with a slightly softer flex pattern to make your ascent easier. Combine this with the in-built pop that Carbon brings yet smoothed out with our addition of Flax. The ski retains the fluidity and edge control of the original R.108. The R.108 Carbonlite is a fantastic companion on day-long ski tours or remote access alpinism.", according to Whitedot. To me the R.98 CarbonLite ski is more versatile.

All Freeride Skis

2017-2018 Powder Ski Review

Wider skis are better! Let's check it out.

by Craig

I have selected some of the wider offerings (approximate 115mm underfoot and above) that were available for 2016-17 season, as well, the new releases coming for 2017-18. See the individual ski reviews on the Yellow Gentian site for further details on each ski, and best internet pricing on...